Force neutral is really the key. Where do you create momentum/force from?
From relaxing and letting gravity do it. Thus the criptism "weight underside".

Agree. I do so when grabbed. The feeling is like letting go the pressure from your feet and putting it where you are grabbed (I donīt know if the "where" is correct), is like having your hips floating around while playing with the contact point. Where i have a hard time is trying to guide my "floating hips" where i want to be in that situation.

Quote:

Chris Parkerson wrote:

Unbendable arm is also key. But is often misunderstood. Consider this diagram.
If you have a vertical structure with a welded pole near it's top and pointing downward at 30 degrees.
If the structure drops downward, the pole also pushes through anything that resists it.

The bottom of the pole is a force neutral point. The dropping of the underside of the structure creates the momentum and the mass yields force.

Bit dropping like this can be efficient only if you drop straight downward ( not at angles). Angles occur as our legs prevent us from dropping straight down. We get in the way of gravity and prevent momentum from occurring. That is another key issue.[/quote]

Totally agree for me i'm experiencing what you are saying.

Quote:

Chris Parkerson wrote:

The "weld" at the connection between the structure and the pole cannot give way.
When translating this model into human terms, the weld is our "force neutral" shoulder. If you use muscle to keep the shoulder from collapsing, it is not force neutral.

Relaxation of the shoulder is also key. Here is a mental image that has worked for me.
If I am standing erect and pretend I am holding two 80 pound dumbbells, my shoulder site back and low in their sockets. Any forward positioning in the socket is muscle tension and interferes with "force neutral."

I have a relationship of love&hate with the words "relaxation" and "tension".

1. When you say relaxation, people interprets it as loosen his articulations and letting it without any control.

2. When you say "tension" or "muscular force" or "force neutral", people tries to go to (1) "then you have a shoulder-weld with a hinge that cannot control or transmit anything.

I think we need another word to express the kind of state we must have in our body for doing aikido effectively.

I think that i have identify three states; relaxation, tension and muscular power and for me those means:

Relaxation: Having your articulations totally free and loosen. For me this is the opossite of tension and a bad thing

Tension: Having your muscles tense withouth generating any movement of your articulations and thus locking it. For me this is the opposite of relaxation, bad thing too.

Muscular power: Using only the needed muscles in a movement to create or maintaing extension while grabbed or not, this situation lets you to move your articulations to respond to uke's changes. This is what im doing actually if i manage to.